Recovering from Addiction, One Step at a Time: Meet Tom Cocagne

Recently Ericka McIntyre sat down to chat with Tom Cocagne about alcoholism, overeating, and how he has used twelve-step programs to recover from these addictions.

In this inspirational interview, Tom talks about his forty-year journey of sobriety. It hasn’t been an easy trip. He first battled alcoholism, and then overeating. He has worked the twelve steps to battle both addictions, and has much wisdom for people struggling with these issues, and for their friends and families.

“[Recovery] is a journey, not a destination. And you have to enjoy the journey…. Whether you’re one year sober, or forty years sober, we still just take it one day at a time.”

“No matter what the addiction is, no matter how hopeless you think [it is]…I’ll quote John Maxwell, he said, ‘a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but a person cannot live 1 second without hope.’ There is a way out. If you go to…any kind of twelve-step meeting, you’re going to find a lot of people that have the same problem you’ve got, and you’re also going to find in that room many people who are recovering, one day at a time.”

If you or someone you know is battling an addiction, please visit:  Alcoholics Anonymous; Overeaters Anonymous; Narcotics Anonymous; Al-Anon Family Groups;Nar-Anon Family Groups.

For a downloadable podcast of this interview, please visit: Podbean

Tom Cocagne

Tom Cocagne is seventy-two years young. He’s been married for forty years. He has five children, fifteen grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. Retired from Humana Health Care, he has forty years in Alcoholics Anonymous, and three years in Overeaters Anonymous. He is a member of Seven Hills Church and enjoys playing tennis, swimming, and reading.